UPDATE: See ’Suspicions raised over ‘Marco Polo’ incident’
The yacht ‘Marco Polo’ belongs to 58-year-old Marco Ceferin who discovered it was missing, possibly stolen, after he had returned from the island to sea around 11am yesterday morning.
An eye witness told Mr Ceferin that he had seen three people board the boat around 8:30am before taking off to sea.
Mr Ceferin immediately reported Marco Polo’s disappearance to Chalong Police Station who in turn liaised with Phuket’s Port Security Control Centre and the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre (Region 3) to launch a search mission.
The authorities also contacted all fishing boats in the local area to help with the search by keeping a lookout for the missing yacht.
The Marco Polo is a Fountaine Pajot Lavezzi 40 vessel, estimated to be worth around US$300,000 (approximately B10 million) with the registration number 6451 00980.
Anyone with any information that may assist in locating the yacht or who may happen to see it is urged to contact the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre (Region 3) on 1465.